So, the other mob want to dumb down the voters
bonmot,
Well, they did have a huge success rate with it at the last election. If that's not success then what is ?
Their biggest success was in 1972 & that record still stands.

Some are hasbeens, & proud of it.

The other side of hasbeen is never was, & it doesn't take long to see who they are.

Just a few factoids with respect to FWA.

The operating budget is roughly $21m p.a.
The staffing is roughly 850.

Combine this with new evidence that the Labor Minister for Industrial relations was asking FWA to sanitize its reports on the Craig Thomson fraud and theft case, and you once again have the stench of Covert interference by Labor dirty tricks Dept.

Despite SM's propensity to see the Coalition as 'do no evil' I have to agree with his assessment of this case.

While Fair Work and other departments are at the mercy of their political masters, public servants should remain bipartisan no matter their own political sympthies. Similar happened during the Howard Government where the lines between political and public service were crossed numerous times, including using a senior public servant to sell WorkChoices in a political advertising campaign.

Regardless, this sort of cover-up and obfuscation should not be tolerated on either side of government.

The Gillard Labor government cannot keep making these sorts of ethical mistakes (Slipper, Wilkie, Thomson) and expect to retain the faith of the electorate. It is difficult for voters like myself who shudder at the horror of the alternative.

This takes me back to 2004 when a certain Mr Abbott was facing allegations of breaching electoral laws and non-disclosure to pay “a gift” to a dissident member of One Nation in relation to the “Australians for Honest Politics” trust which he set up specifically to attack that party.

After a 12 month investigation the action was mysteriously dropped by a (legally unqualified) member of the Australian Electoral Commission after Abbott complained that it was “unreasonable”.

Really?
A Minister is above the Law?

Despite the AEC referring the Media to advice posted on its website, no such advice ever appeared under its Media Releases. It just "went away".

Perhaps there was undue Ministerial influence or corruption involved.

Then a couple of years later there was the Cole enquiry into AWB where the underfunded and underresourced Federal Police decided to drop the case because a conviction "was not in the Public Interest".

Wobbles,

Firstly, does what happened years ago, justify the Thomson cover up?

Secondly, the allegations against Abbott were dismissed for a complete lack of evidence.